TY - JOUR
T1 - Barriers and Motives for Complying With “Sexual Distancing” Among Men Who Have Sex With Men During the First COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown in Amsterdam: A Qualitative Study
T2 - A Qualitative Study
AU - de Vries, D.C.
AU - Zimmermann, H.M.L.
AU - Drückler, S.
AU - Davidovich, U.
AU - Hoornenborg, E.
AU - de Vries, H.J.C.
N1 - With supplementary file
PY - 2022/7/1
Y1 - 2022/7/1
N2 - Background Between March 15 and May 31, 2020, the Dutch government imposed lockdown and health measures to curb the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. As part of social distancing, sexual distancing was one of these measures. Sexual distancing implied refraining from sex with partners outside of one's household. We aimed to elucidate barriers and motives for complying with sexual distancing and related factors that could have led to (non)compliance among men who have sex with men. Methods In this exploratory qualitative study, we interviewed men who have sex with men who visited the center for sexual health in Amsterdam during the first COVID-19 lockdown using a semistructured interview guide from March to May 2020. We interviewed both men who complied and did not comply with sexual distancing. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using an open-coding process in MAXQDA. Results We included 18 noncompliers and 4 compliers to COVID-19 sexual distancing. Barriers to compliance were the following: lack of information on, or understanding of, the need for sexual distancing; being single; having had an active sex life before COVID-19; a high perceived importance of the social aspect of sex; a strong urge for sex; using sex to cope with the negative impact of the pandemic; being under the influence of alcohol or drugs; and not perceiving COVID-19 as a serious health threat. Motives for compliance were the following: perceiving COVID-19 as a serious health threat, direct confrontation with critically ill COVID-19 patients, protecting someone dear from COVID-19, and being convinced of the importance of social and/or sexual distancing measures. Conclusions Information on sexual distancing needs to be made more explicit, accessible, understandable, inclusive, customized to individual barriers, and relatable to the key populations. This may improve the effectiveness of measures and health recommendations in both the current COVID-19 pandemic and future respiratory outbreaks.
AB - Background Between March 15 and May 31, 2020, the Dutch government imposed lockdown and health measures to curb the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. As part of social distancing, sexual distancing was one of these measures. Sexual distancing implied refraining from sex with partners outside of one's household. We aimed to elucidate barriers and motives for complying with sexual distancing and related factors that could have led to (non)compliance among men who have sex with men. Methods In this exploratory qualitative study, we interviewed men who have sex with men who visited the center for sexual health in Amsterdam during the first COVID-19 lockdown using a semistructured interview guide from March to May 2020. We interviewed both men who complied and did not comply with sexual distancing. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using an open-coding process in MAXQDA. Results We included 18 noncompliers and 4 compliers to COVID-19 sexual distancing. Barriers to compliance were the following: lack of information on, or understanding of, the need for sexual distancing; being single; having had an active sex life before COVID-19; a high perceived importance of the social aspect of sex; a strong urge for sex; using sex to cope with the negative impact of the pandemic; being under the influence of alcohol or drugs; and not perceiving COVID-19 as a serious health threat. Motives for compliance were the following: perceiving COVID-19 as a serious health threat, direct confrontation with critically ill COVID-19 patients, protecting someone dear from COVID-19, and being convinced of the importance of social and/or sexual distancing measures. Conclusions Information on sexual distancing needs to be made more explicit, accessible, understandable, inclusive, customized to individual barriers, and relatable to the key populations. This may improve the effectiveness of measures and health recommendations in both the current COVID-19 pandemic and future respiratory outbreaks.
KW - COVID-19/epidemiology
KW - Communicable Disease Control
KW - Homosexuality, Male
KW - Humans
KW - Male
KW - Pandemics/prevention & control
KW - SARS-CoV-2
KW - Sexual and Gender Minorities
UR - https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/87619626/olq_00_00_2022_04_08_devries_std220298_sdc1.docx
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85131903632&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1097/OLQ.0000000000001636
DO - https://doi.org/10.1097/OLQ.0000000000001636
M3 - Article
C2 - 35404868
SN - 0148-5717
VL - 49
SP - 497
EP - 503
JO - Sexually transmitted diseases
JF - Sexually transmitted diseases
IS - 7
ER -